EZFarming Selected for US Accelerator Programme

Ugo Aliogo

Nigerian-US agrotech startup EZFarming has emerged as the only Nigerian startup selected for the batch 25 of the 500 Startups accelerator programme in San Francisco, California, USA.

According to a statement, the 500 startups accelerator programme provides $150,000 in funding, mentorship and hands-on training in a highly competitive accelerator programme, with attendees selected from different parts of the world.

The statement explained that only a handful of startups from Egypt, Nigeria and other African countries had made it to the four-month accelerator programme, “other startups in the 25 batch of 500 startups were from Chile, France and Hong Kong, and others.”

The statement further explained that the startup had pooled up to $1 million from investors around the world to invest in smallholder farmers in Nigeria and other African countries, while providing a marketplace that thrives on using digital technology to address agribusiness challenges in Africa.

The founder of the startup, Dr. Adewale Oparinde said: “We are excited to have made it to batch 25 of 500 Startups accelerator programme. EZFarming is a unique marketplace for smallholder farmers in Africa because we provide not just financing but use technology to provide technical support and connect them to buyers in a different way beyond ecommerce.

“We continue to work with farmers to scale their farms to commercial sizes. This is a great opportunity for us to continue to improve our model and benefit from the bespoke opportunities the programme offers. We are confident that our time in this 4-month programme will sharpen our ability to stretch the limits and deliver more results to our various stakeholders.”

The statement added that EZFarming secured its place in the programme after clinching the first prize of $5000 and the peoples’ choice award at the 2019 Georgetown African Business Conference New Venture Competition.

“500 Startups is a renowned global accelerator programme, having worked with over 2,000 startups from across the world. It has supported 10 tech unicorns -companies valued at $1 billion – including Twilio, SendGrid, and Credit Karma, Udemy, Grab and Canva.”

Related Articles